There are two active seasons of navigation in the Danube: the spring, when vessels come for the grain of the preceding year; and autumn, taking away the produce of the last harvest. In spring they should arrive as nearly as possible towards the end of March, at which period the ice has disappeared; and by managing their business quickly they may get away before the sickly season begins, which is dangerous to crews little cared for and often overworked. For the autumn season they should be in the Danube at latest about the end of October; otherwise they will not be able to take in cargo and sail before the river freezes, and will therefore stand a chance of being detained two or three months in the ice.

The passage from European ports West of the Danube being generally delayed by northerly winds in the archipelago, vessels should leave England in August and the ports of the Mediterranean in September at latest.

The navigation of the Black Sea is not so difficult as that of the channel. Our commanders have no occasion for alarm about it, or to imagine that they must have a pilot at Constantinople. If they leave the Bosphorus in fine weather they will soon find room enough in it to profit by the wind by making long boards. The Isle of Serpents presents a capital land-mark for the mouths of the Danube. It is very steep to, tolerably high, and has a light-house visible at the distance of eighteen miles.

Moreover, most of the pilots shipped at Constantinople, not only for the Black Sea, but also the Danube, are unworthy of confidence. They may have made a voyage or two to the Danube, but do not know the ports of refuge to be found on the coast of Bulgaria, and still less the shoals and wrecks of vessels that obstruct the mouth of the Sulina. Commanders of ships cannot be too strongly cautioned against being led by their advice, and especially when they reach the mouth of the Sulina, and to be careful not to attempt crossing the bar without having a chartered pilot on board.

On leaving Constantinople, commanders should take care to make themselves acquainted with the signals of the Sulina tower. If on arriving there the flag forbidding them to enter is hoisted at the lighthouse, they should keep out to sea; or, if they prefer to anchor, should take an anchorage at a good distance from the coast to the N.E. of the entrance to the river.

If, on the contrary, a port pilot proposes entering, they must be very exact in stating the depth of water the vessel draws, so that it may be determined, according to the state of the bar, whether it be necessary to lighten her.

Should the wind be scant or the swell at the mouth might occasion her touching, a steam tug should be adopted without hesitation. There are now four of these towing craft, belonging to private individuals, whose commanders are ready for a bargain; and, as competition has lowered their charges, their services may be had for passing the bar for £4.

After entering the river a pilot is engaged for going up it. In

this negociation, as well as in the towing vessels, it is always best to consult the port-captain or the English consul, who is in charge of French affairs.

The pilotage of the river, like that of the towing vessels in, is not regulated by the direction of the port. They are entirely free, and left open to the first comers; and in consequence there is much squabbling and difficulty to obtain justice. There being no stated charges, the pilots, and especially the owners of the tugs, demand various prices, according to the season and the amount of navigation. It becomes, therefore, quite necessary to fall back on the current charges at the time.

Vessels arriving late in the Danube-for instance, in November or December-and those which, on account of their greater size, can better afford the expenses of entering, have certainly the advantage of being towed direct to the loading port, for it is always a long and tedious business to get up to Sulina. For most of the time they are generally towed up by ropes. They are often a month or more in reaching Galatz, which is only thirty-five leagues from the sea. Much time is thus lost, and if the season is much advanced they run the chance of being surprised by the ice. Our captains generally hesitate to make use of the tugs. They do not like to run risks, trusting to avoid them with the chance of a fair wind. But they are too often deceived, and those vessels which succeed best in the Danube are those which take tugs.

As soon as a vessel has embarked her cargo she descends the river with the tide. The larger are obliged before leaving the port to place part of their cargo in the tug, and this has always to be done before crossing the bar at the mouth of the river. But commanders cannot be too much on their guard against the persons employed on this duty. They should take care to keep their grain as near to them as possible, in order to prevent it from being stolen, a case which often happens. They may also expect to be deceived in the measure, and to be imposed on in every possible way, on pretext of damages, delays, &c., requiring the greatest vigilance to avoid.

Large vessels should embark all or the greater part of their cargoes in the tugs of the Austrian Company, that while towing serve them as lighters, from the port whence they ship their cargo as far as Sulina. Taking advantage of a fine day they run with them over the bar to sea, where the shifting of the cargo occupies a few hours. The charges of the Austrian Company are not unreasonable, and are those of an honest management. This towing method of proceeding up the river being rapid and sure, is undoubtedly the best for large vessels. Several English vessels of 400 tons or more, have employed them this autumn. I advised two French commanders to follow their example on arriving about the end of November, and now they are at Sulina ready for departure. In my opinion it is always best to take advantage of steam in the Danube.

There is still another difficulty to which the commanders of mer

chant ships are exposed in the Danube, and against which they should be on their guard. Nearly all the French vessels are freighted by commercial firms established in England. They first go to Constantinople, from whence they are directed to corresponding agents at Galatz or Ibraila, a change of agents which is often the cause of much annoyance.

The trade in grain which is carried on at Galatz is quite a speculation, and as much is made in the hire of ships as by dealing in grain. Hence it is that vessels hired for two or three months and do not reach the Danube till the freight is reduced, can no longer obtain their cargoes on the conditions originally agreed on by their charter parties. If the rate of their freights is advantageous to the consignees these are ready to hasten the business; but if, on the contrary, they anticipate loss in carrying out the contract, they endeavour by every means to shirk it.

A French commander finds that his consignee has failed, another can find his no where, and both are thus compelled to seek fresh charterers. Some have even seen their cargo sold at a considerable loss; and it is thus that the consignees get clear of their engagement when they find, from the price of grain in England, that they will be losers there. This power of negociating the charter of a vessel is an old custom, and it would doubtless be impossible to avoid it; but commanders desiring not to be the victims of such a traffic, should take care to secure in their agreement that if the cargo is sold at a reduction, and they ship another at a different value, the difference should be made up to them. The French consul at Ibraila obtained this for a vessel; but other commanders, tired out by the delay and difficulties which they meet with, left without receiving the difference due to them, and they would have great trouble in recovering it afterwards.

Shipowners cannot be too careful in drawing up agreements as to the chartering of their vessels. They are often written in English, and some commanders do not take the trouble to have them translated or explained. One of them on reaching the Danube was surprised to find that by the agreement his consignee had the power of sending him to Giurgewo to take cargo, one hundred and eighty miles above Ibraila, which is the last port to which sailing vessels go from the Black Sea. In order to avoid going these one hundred and eighty miles against the strong currents of the river, he was compelled to agree to a reduction in his freight, which in the first instance was no higher than those of vessels going to Galatz or Ibraila.

LORD ELGIN'S EXPEDITION TO HANKOW.

The importance in a political and commercial point of view, combined with the geographical interest that attaches to the expedition up the Yang-tsze-Kiang which has just been accomplished, seem to impose the obligation upon those who have returned from it of furnishing the public with some account of the character and capabilities of that celebrated river, as well as of the varied incidents which attended its exploration. It does, indeed, rarely fall to the lot of those engaged in an enterprise of such a nature to add to the interest of traversing unknown waters, and to the pleasure of gazing for the first time upon scenes never yet described, the excitement of forcing their way through a hostile country, and the satisfaction of achieving a valuable political result.

Captain Osborn, and the officers under his command, deserve the highest credit for the success which has attended this effort to penetrate into the interior of China, and although they are now condemned to pass, in all probability, some months in the heart of the country, they must derive no small consolation from the consciousness of the fact that, in ascending for the first time an unknown river for a distance of upwards of 600 miles from its mouth, in a ship of 1,300 tons, and drawing 16 feet of water, they have accomplished a feat unrivalled in the annals of inland navigation and river exploration.

We have been favoured with the following interesting narrative of the expedition, which we are permitted to give in the writer's own words:

The squadron, consisting of the Retribution, Furious, Cruizer, Dove, and Lee, it will be remembered, left the mouth of the Shanghai river on the morning of the 9th of last November.

For the first week we made but little progress, in consequence of the total change which had taken place in the bed of the river; the old charts served rather to mislead than to assist us; before long every ship had discovered a sand bank for itself in a manner more convincing than agreeable, and the only incidents which marked our progress were those which occurred to check it.

The Dove and Lee, however, proved themselves indefatigable pioneers for the larger ships, and on the morning of the 16th we were gratified by the sight of Silver Island. We were just feasting our eyes on the magnificent prospect afforded by the reach which opens up Chinkiang-foo and Golden Island, when the Furious suddenly attracted universal attention by striking on a sunken rock in the channel between Silver Island and the shore, in a spot marked 16 fathoms in the chart, and which the whole British fleet had passed in 1842 without discovering. It was only by the removal of 260 tons, and the most unremitting exertions for three days, that she was at last released from her disagreeable position, without having, so far as it was possible to discover, sustained any material damage.

The delay enabled some of the party to visit the city of Chinkiang, and here for the first time we came in contact with those scenes

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of desolation and of ruin which bore evidence of rebel occupation, and which afterwards became so painfully familiar to us. Both in the suburb and city tumble down walls and heaps of rubbish extended over the vast area once densely inhabited, and the deserted streets were now overgrown with weeds so rank and sturdy that they seemed to have entered into permanent possession. There was not a semblance of trade or business of any sort going on in the two or three streets which are still partially inhabited by a few woe-begone citizens. On the 20th we were once more under way, and at 4h. p.m. came in sight of Nankin.

As it had been determined to avoid if possible any collision with the rebels, but at the same time not to recognise in them any right or title to oppose our advance up the river of a friendly power by entering into negotiations with them on the subject, the Lee was sent about a mile in advance of the squadron, with Mr. Wade on board, to communicate only in the event of any message coming off from the rebels in the first instance. With a gaze of intense interest we followed the little vessel as she steamed fearlessly past one battery after another. At last, just as she seemed to us to have passed them all, and sighs of disappointment were escaping from the bosoms of numerous naval heroes at the prospect of a peaceful passage, a little white puff of smoke sent the blood once more coursing through their veins, and the cheery pipe and hoarse beat to quarters started the deck of every ship into full life and activity.

In obedience to her instructions, the Lee was no sooner fired upon than Lieut. Jones hoisted a large white flag of truce. This was fired upon eight times in rapid succession, and as the 'engage' signal was by this time flying from the Retribution's mast-head, it was promptly replied to by each ship as she came abreast of the first battery.

It was now nearly five o'clock, and for the remaining half hour of daylight a pretty smart cannonade was kept up on both sides. The Retribution lost one marine, killed; Mr. Midshipman Birch lost an arm, and a blue-jacket was wounded so severely in the leg that it was afterwards amputated at the thigh.

Considering that the vessels were all the while in motion, the firing on the part of the rebels was better than could have been expected. All the ships were hulled with their shot. Lord Elgin, who remained on deck during the action, while standing on the paddlebox, was nearly struck by a round shot, which cut a rope a few feet over his head. Another was found afterwards in his cabin, and two passed through his barge. Fortunately no casualties occurred either on board the Furious or any other ship. Shortly after 5h. p.m. all the forts were passed and we took up a position for the night about two miles above the city.

It appears Lord Elgin thoroughly agreed with Captains Barker and Osborn in thinking that no time should be lost in inflicting summary chastisement on the rebels for the temerity of which they had been guilty, for day had scarcely dawned when the ships began to drop down with the tide opposite the city, the Cruizer engaging the